Nicholas Dapero Joins Juncos Racing Driver Development Program

Indianapolis, IN (March 18, 2015) – Juncos Racing is pleased to announce Nicholas Dapero has joined the Juncos Racing Driver Development Program for the 2015 season. Dapero will spend his time in the program learning the Mazda Road to Indy ladder series both on and off track through the guidance of Juncos Racing.

Nicholas Dapero, a native of Buenos Aires, Argentina began his racing career running in various karting series throughout Argentina. In 2012 Dapero competed in ROTAX of Buenos Aires, the Florida Winter Tour, and the ROTAX Euro Challenge claiming one win and three podiums. Dapero continued his run in karts in 2013 competing in the ROTAX MAX Challenge in Buenos Aires taking two wins and six podiums. The following year Dapero won the 2014 ROTAX Argentina Championship with three wins, four poles, and eight podiums. The young Argentinean moved into the Formula Metropolitana series in 2014 earning three podiums and one pole position. Dapero currently competes in the 2015 Formula Renault 2.0 series.

Through the Juncos Racing Driver Development Program Dapero will work with the team engineers, driver coaches, and mechanics to develop his skills behind the wheel into the next level. Along with working with the team Dapero will spend time on the racing simulator and testing throughout the year at various tracks in the United States.

“I am very happy to be a part of Juncos Racing knowing that I am on the right path,” said Dapero. “I worked a lot in Argentina with my coach Marcelo La Manna watching the cameras and data. I recently began testing with Juncos Racing at Palm Beach and I am extremely happy with the two days we spent at Palm Beach. The team was really positive with my improvements since my last run in the car at Houston last year. I want to highlight the work done with Peter Dempsey and all the team members who did an excellent job!”

Juncos Racing has prided the team on successfully developing young drivers from around the world into the next level of their careers. The team recently claimed the 2014 Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires and currently competes with four drivers in the Pro Mazda Championship and two drivers in the Indy Lights Championship Presented by Cooper Tires.

Juncos Racing Team Owner, Ricardo Juncos, is excited to bring Dapero on board the Driver Development Program with the championship winning team and looks forward to a long-term relationship building him into the next level of his career. Juncos has proven the success of the program through pervious drivers Conor Daly, Peter Dempsey and Connor De Phillippi, along with present drivers Spencer Pigot, Kyle Kaiser, and Jose Gutierrez.

“With the addition of Nicholas, the Juncos Driver Development Program is proving its value to more and more drivers across the globe,” said Juncos. “We have signed Nicholas to a long-term program, and look forward to working with him at this stage in his development behind the wheel. What we have seen so far from Nico is impressive to say the least. He is arguably the best young South American driver we have seen in the last decade. Spencer (Pigot) and Kyle (Kaiser) have proven how successful our program is and I have no doubt that Nico will do the same.”

About Juncos Racing: Ricardo Juncos, a second generation and former Formula Renault driver, grew up with a deep passion and desire for racing. At the age of 14, Juncos made his first steps in the racing community driving karts in Argentina. Through his success in karts Juncos was able to join the Formula Renault class competing throughout South America. After funding became difficult as many drivers experience over their career, Juncos began working for many race teams in order to continue his own racing career. During this time Juncos was able to learn all aspects of the car in and out, along with schooling in mechanical and electrical engineering. Stationed in Buenos Aires, Argentina and headed by Ricardo Juncos, in 1997 “Juncos Racing” became a full-service Formula Racing team. By 2003, the team relocated to Miami, Florida as a full-service karting team. During the first few years in the U.S., the team picked up 19 local, regional, and national karting titles. Juncos Racing moved operations north to Indiana, where they developed into a formula open-wheel racing team in 2008. The team went into full swing dedicating most of the time preparing drivers and crew members for the next level in racing. Following this transitional year, Juncos Racing participated in its first open-wheel series, in the 2009 Star Mazda Championship – INDYCAR’s Mazda Road to Indy ladder series. 2010 proved to be a big year for the team with driver Conor Daly capturing the driver championship and finishing second in the team Star Mazda Championship. By 2012, the team’s operations expanded to include cars in the Firestone Indy Lights series and even recorded the fastest lap of the Freedom 100 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. That same year Juncos Racing took second in the Star Mazda team championship and third driver in the championship with driver Conner De Phillippi while Diego Ferreria was awarded “Most Improved Driver of the Year.” Juncos Racing continued their run in the Pro Mazda Championship (former Star Mazda Championship) finishing second in the 2013 team championship. Most recently the team finished one of their most successful years winning the driver championship, with Spencer Pigot, and the team championship in both the Cooper Tires Winterfest Championship and 2014 Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires. The team operates of out Brownsburg, Indiana.